


cool metal and broken hearts

by Shinyshinx



Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M, Sadstuck, Steampunk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-23
Updated: 2013-06-23
Packaged: 2017-12-15 20:38:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/853816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shinyshinx/pseuds/Shinyshinx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>in a steampunk-style world, sollux is the last of his friends still truly alive. however, the rest live in robots, soul and essence still there. things go horribly wrong when he gives his lover's robot a quick fix.</p>
            </blockquote>





	cool metal and broken hearts

**Author's Note:**

> old. old sadstuck. probably out of character sollux. enjoy.

The machines inside the factory clicked and roared to life as Sollux woke up.  
He groaned and rolled over, attempting to ignore the constant grinding of the gears as they turned, demanding him to get up and tend to them like he was supposed to. Outside, smoke poured from the chimneys of long-abandoned factories and swirled into the air, and metal creatures scurried from one spot to another in search of metallic, twisted plants or other crunchy metal morsels for breakfast. Little tin bees and flies hummed and whirred as they fluttered above his head.  
His wishes for more sleep and less morning, however, were quickly denied as a few weak straggles of sunlight weaved through the window and shone directly across his face. Growling to himself, Sollux stood up and stretched, quickly getting dressed in his normal attire: A white shirt with long sleeves that puffed at the ends, a yellow vest, a pair of black skinny jean-like pants that hugged his legs, knee-high brown boots, and his blue and red goggles, which hung limply from his neck. He strode over to what resembled an electronic zipline and took hold, kicking off the ground and flying to the floor below.  
A quick glance out the ground floor window told him it wasn’t a good day for survivor hunting. Although the sun was up and trying desperately to seep through the cloud of smog hanging over the sky like a blanket, the city about a mile from his factory was bleak and dead. The metal buildings glowed red with heat-hinting that they could blow at any time. Nope. He wasn’t going anywhere.  
Well, that was okay with him; he had other matters to attend to. Like the robots lined up against the walls.  
There were thirty-two of them in all. There was even a copy of himself there, sitting and collecting dust, waiting for the day he died and his soul could transfer into it. That was how it worked here. If the real person died, then they could technically still live. Like a second chance. Every single bot leaning against the wall was harbouring the soul of a dead friend of his, every last one, save the one of himself.  
He strode over to one of the robots, still in sleep mode, right in between the Gamzee bot and the Feferi bot where it belonged. It appeared to be male. His metal outfit was complex, to say the least, covered in gears and springs until the steel base for it could no longer be seen. Sollux pressed a finger gently to his throat, where several wires were sticking out, before tapping lightly against his face. “Hey, prin’the’th, wake up.”  
The robot suddenly seemed to jerk awake. His glowing purple eyes settled on Sollux, while his eyebrows creaked together into a glare. He opened his mouth to reply, but not a sound came out, so he closed it again and just pouted, as if to say, “Why the fuck would you wake me up from my beauty sleep, you asscake?”  
Sollux grinned. “Ni’thce to ‘thee you’re nothing but ‘thunshine and ‘thmile’th today. Now come on Eridan, we’ve got to finish fixing your neck ‘tho that we can actually have a real conver’thation.” He reached out to grab the robot’s hands, and once his fingers were intertwined with the other’s cold ones, he pulled him off the floor and started towards a table set up near a giant turning gear.  
Eridan was reluctant to follow after him, but nonetheless he twitched his fingers to give his boyfriend’s hand a soft squeeze, his glowing eyes soft with hidden affection. Sollux’s grin melted into a soft smile as he let go of his hand and put his goggles on. Eridan perched himself on the edge of the table, crossing his arms with an eyebrow raised.  
“‘Thcrew you, okay, I actually like the’the goggle’th.” Sollux said, taking a wild guess as to what the robot was thinking. Eridan smirked in response before gesturing impatiently at his open neck. “I’m working on it. Calm your tit’th.”  
Taking his tool box from the table, Sollux started tinkering around with the wires in Eridan’s neck. It was quite a difficult feat, considering the robot wouldn’t stop making clicking noises of disdain and wriggling around. Often Sollux would get annoyed and snap at him to “‘Thtay ‘thtill or I’ll fuck ‘thomething up in here and you won’t even be able to click at me, let alone talk.” This brought on a round of pouting that Sollux would have to kiss away.  
Of course, he wouldn’t admit that these kisses made him frown inwardly. What he wanted was to be leaving kisses on Eridan’s _real_ face, one composed of adorably chubby cheeks and fat lips and freckles, freckles everywhere. Skin, not metal.  
Of course, that wasn’t going to happen.  
If only Eridan hadn’t been stupid enough to push him out of the way of one of the drones and gotten his dumb ass cut in half.  
That should’ve been him.  
All thoughts of death were momentarily staled, however, when Eridan let out a soft croak. “Sol?”  
Pulling away, Sollux grinned and planted a loving kiss on a pair of cool lips. “Yeah, that’th my name, douchebag.” Eridan couldn’t help but smile back at him as he pulled away. “Okay, fuck you, fuck you so so hard.”  
“How ‘thexy.” Sollux’s grin turned into a smolder. “‘Theriou’thly, though, that’th the fir’tht thing you ‘thay to your boyfriend after he ju’tht fixed your neck for you? ‘Fuck you’? Not ‘I lovve you’, or ‘You’re the be’tht ‘Thol, take me noww’? Rude.”  
“One, no, I wwould be the one doin’ the takin’ in that situation, thank you, an’ twwo, you already knoww I lovve you, I shouldn’t havve ta say it.”  
“It would ‘thtill be ni’thce to hear, Je’thu’th.” In that moment, Sollux had slid onto Eridan’s lap, and was busy hiding his face in the cool metal of his chest. He inhaled, trying to pick up that wafting sent of him-but there was nothing, only the tell-tale smell of oil and rust. He frowned, his voice taking on a more serious tone. “Why’d you do it, ED?”  
“Do wwhat?” Eridan asked-although he already knew what Sollux was implying. He frowned as well, hugging his boyfriend close.  
“You know what. Why didn’t you ju’tht let me die?” Sollux looked up so that he could stare into Eridan’s purple eyes. His eyebrows were knitted together in an expression of pain. “I would’ve gone to my bot and you would ‘thtill be alive.”  
“…..Sol, evven if you had your bot, I wwould nevver, evver let you die.” Eridan countered. Sollux stared at him for a bit longer, then sniffed hard, and then oh good motherfucking god he was crying. He couldn’t even look at Eridan, just sniffle into his hands, and holy fuck was he crying too? Yes, his robot was crying, crying fucking _oil_.  
“I ju’tht want u’th to be together again….” Sollux mumbled-slashed-choked-out, his face blurry with tears, although they were starting to subside, just a little. Even though they were together, it wasn’t the same. He wanted to _feel_ him and touch him and have him kiss him like they used to do. He didn’t notice the steady stream of gasoline dripping from one of the machines running the place.  
Eridan kissed him once, and looked like he was about to say something, when he turned his attention to the steady drip drip dripping. His eyebrows knitted together in a slightly concerned expression. “Sol, is that supposed ta’ be-“  
He didn’t get to finish his sentence, because at that moment the entire machine blew up.  
Eridan was sent flying backwards, whilst Sollux was shoved abruptly off his lap and to the floor. Burning scrap metal floated everywhere, getting into his eyes, and holy shit that fucking _burned_. Sollux crawled on his hands and knees away from the burning, away from the heat.  
Until his hands struck metal.  
“ED?” He whimpered out, waiting for a reply, but getting nothing. Oh god. Oh god, no. No. “ED?” His hands ran over his chest, to his face, and waved over his eyes. They weren’t hot. They weren’t glowing. “ED!” Filled with new panic, Sollux scrambled to find the off switch, flicked the robot off and then back on again. And again. And again. “ED!!” Holy fuck, Eridan’d died-trying to save him. Again. This was too much like the first time.  
Too much.  
Sollux sprawled out across Eridan’s chest, clinging to him and sobbing, seeing nothing but burning flecks of metal and feeling nothing but cold, hard metal beneath him.


End file.
